H.S. football: La Salle edges Wood 6-3 in overtime
WARMINSTER — There was a really good explanation why La Salle senior quarterback Nole Henry grabbed fellow-senior running back/linebacker Sean McFadden and moved him to a different spot in the backfield on the Explorers' second play from scrimmage in overtime Friday night against Archbishop Wood.
"I didn't know the play," McFadden said with a laugh. "I thought I was lining up behind Nole so I could try and push him into the end zone.
"He said to me that no, he was giving me the ball."
Henry did and McFadden bulled in from the 2-yard line to give La Salle a 6-3 win in what was a defensive struggle from start to finish.
In McFadden's defense, he hadn't carried the ball all season and hadn't had a rushing touchdown since the 2020 campaign.
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"I came to La Salle as a running back, but we had (2022 graduate) Sam Brown (now at Rutgers), so they moved me to linebacker," McFadden said. "I'm just glad I was able to help the team."
McFadden nearly helped La Salle win this one in regulation as his interception and return deep inside Wood territory in the closing seconds was one of the game's highlights.
"I love playing linebacker and I wish I could have scored on the interception," McFadden said. "Our whole defense played great all game, but we had been out there a while and you never know what can happen in overtime."
What did happen was the Vikings kicked a 25-yard field goal (by sophomore Leo Ricci) on their possession in overtime to put pressure on the Explorers.
"Leo came through for us right there in a big way," Wood first-year head coach Dave Armstrong said. "He made the kick when we needed it and is really doing well for just being a sophomore."
Three things we learned
That you'll rarely see two more evenly matched teams. The Vikings ran 42 plays from scrimmage and the Explorers ran 37. For the meager amount of first downs in a true defensive battle, Wood had six and La Salle five.
That you'd be hard-pressed to find a tougher player than Wood senior running back/quarterback/linebacker Ryan Wilson. He rushed 17 times, getting crunched on most of them, and also had a huge sack on defense.
That both teams have to clean up their play. The Vikings were flagged eight times, including a crucial encroachment call on La Salle's first offensive snap in overtime that moved the ball from the 10- to the 5-yard line, while the Explorers were penalized six times.
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Game balls
La Salle senior kicker Andrew Park. Park had kicked off to start the game and wasn't needed again until the final seconds of regulation to try a game-winning 40-yard field goal. Despite his inactivity, Park drilled the kick off the crossbar, coming within inches of winning it and doing away with the overtime.
La Salle senior defensive tackle Darold Dengohe. The James Madison commit is just a force in the middle of the Explorers' defensive line and just makes tackle after tackle and disrupts offenses.
The La Salle jazz band. This group doesn't march — they just sit in the stands and play. And they play really well. From The Trammps (Disco Inferno) to Kansas to Stevie Wonder to Nirvana, they cover it and make it fun. Oh, and their trademark "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple never misses.
They said it
"These guys are giving me everything," first-year Archbishop Wood head coach Dave Armstrong said. "We only dressed around 30 players tonight, and a lot of them are playing both ways, and they all keep battling."
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Drew Markol: dmarkol@theintell.com; @dmarkol
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: In a key PCL Red Division game, La Salle topped Wood 6-3 in OT
